Celebrate the Chinese New Year with Chinese Vegan Radish Cakes
[x_section style=”margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 45px 0px 45px 0px; “][x_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” bg_color=”” style=”margin: 0px auto 0px auto; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; “][x_column bg_color=”” type=”1/4″ style=”padding: 10px 10px 10px 10px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 1px; “][x_text class=”center-text “]
by Bobbi Ann Marshall of Healthy World Cuisine Magazine[/x_text][/x_column][x_column bg_color=”” type=”3/4″ style=”padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; “][x_text]
In just a short few days, hundreds of millions of passengers will take trains, buses, boats, planes and cars as they journey home to celebrate Lunar New Year. Chinese New Year (CNY), also known as Spring Festival, will begin on February 19th, 2015 and is one of the most important holidays of the year. Festivities are in full swing in Hong Kong and I am delighted to be able to share this exciting experience with you.
Ren Shan Ren Hai
I had the wonderful opportunity to interview some close Chinese friends, acquaintances and students here in Hong Kong to find out what CNY meant to them. I asked them what treasured memories they have and what special things that they do for each other during this CNY holiday season.
(I would like to give a very special thanks to Mimi, Linn, Cheng-Gong, Ting, Xaviére and Safie for sharing their stories with us today)
According to Mimi Lalala, “Chinese New Year is very special because it brings back warm childhood memories of my family making my favorite dim sum treat, Chinese radish cake (Loh bak Goh/White carrot cake,萝卜糕). We used to make a huge plate of Chinese radish cake for family and friends that came to visit. The adults would leave the plate of delicious radish cakes unattended so us kids helped ourselves to as much as we wanted, while the adults were having fun playing Majong. I think that being with my family and enjoying meals with them is the warmest part of every festival.”
I think Mimi really sums up the true spirit of CNY which is all about the family and spending quality time together. When families gather, we pamper our loved ones by making some very special treats made with love. One of my favorite treats is also Lok bak goh/Chinese New Year Radish cake and I have a recipe to share with you today.
The Chinese Vegan Radish Cake is simply just dreamy to bite into. First, the little crispy bits on the ends catch your senses and then once you take a bite, the inside is soft and mellow. The diakon radish mellows as it is cooked and combined with the mushrooms, herbs and spices and makes this one hearty, delightful treat. Well don’t take my word for it, give it a try yourself and impress all of your guests this Chinese New Year — and, it is gluten-free and vegan. I love dipping it in a simple sauce of soya, a dash Chinese dark Chinkiang vinegar and a ginger for a little zest.
Many CNY customs are similar around the world but CNY food dishes are different from province to province, from country to country and even from family to family. Linn Choo, my dear friend from Singapore, said, “My favorite part of the Chinese New Year is going to the New Year Markets, visiting with family and friends, watching the fireworks and of course the food. We take care of each other by spending time with our loved ones and friends and making them their special dishes. My favorite New Year’s dish is sea cucumber stir fried with minced pork and Shaoxing wine.”
There are also some Chinese traditions that are a huge hit with the younger generation and this is the custom of giving red packets. According to 10-year-old Cheng-Gong Yi, “ I like getting Lai Cee (red packets) from my grandparents and my aunts and uncles. I have been waiting all year for this as I am saving up for a new computer game.” Lei Cee (Cantonese) or Hong Bao (Mandarin) are little red packets gifts that are given out to the children and family and are filled with money.
Another common way that people take care of each other before the CNY is to do a proper spring-cleaning. CNY represents bidding farewell to an old year and welcoming in the fresh New Year. However, come the start of the CNY, all of those cleaning supplies need to be tucked away — if you sweep or vacuum during the CNY, it is thought you will sweep all of your good luck out the front door.
According to Ting Chung, “I clean and organize my apartment for weeks prior to the New Celebration and I love filling my home with beautiful lucky bamboo, Mandarin trees and New Year Fruit plants from the Victoria Park flower market.”
Families will also hang decorations and red banners around their doorframe. The “fu” characters are deliberately inverted. Fu means ‘good fortune’, and posting the character upside down means you want the ‘good fortune’ to “pour out” on to your guests when they arrive to your front door.
2015 is the year of the sheep and any babies born after February 4th, 2015 are born in the year of the green wooden sheep.
Days before the CNY begins, preparations are done in the home to be ready for the holiday season and this includes a lot of cooking.
According to Xaviére Hy Au-Yeung, “ My favorite food to eat during the Chinese New year is Nian Gao (Glutinous Rice cake). In Chinese, “nian gao” is loosely translated as “nian” means year and “gao” means higher. In Chinese people’s minds, this means that every year may you reach higher and higher. If you are the more prosperous in your business, then you will have a general improvement in your life. The main ingredients in nian gao are sticky rice, sugar, chestnuts, Chinese dates, and lotus leaves.”
Did you know that depending on what province you live in, the nian gao (New Years’ cake), is made with different ingredients? My dear friend, Safie Chan, has shared with me her very special nian gao from her hometown, Wen Shou. This nian gao is yellow in color because of the wild Chinese herbs. This is really delicious dipped in egg and fried and eaten warm. It is the best!!!
Together the family will cook and prepare everything they will be serving during the Chinese New Year so they can spend more time with family and friends. On the eve before CNY, the 18th of February, the whole family will gather for a big feast with many delicious dishes. One of those dishes will be fish and it is customary to leave some leftover as this means they will have good luck and good fortune throughout the New Year. Hot pot is a very common meal to share for Chinese New Years’ eve.
On the very final day of CNY, March 5th, 2015 they will celebrate the Yuan Xiao Jie festival. Yuan Xiao Jie is like the Chinese version of Valentine’s Day. According to my friend Safie, during and before the Qian dynasty, it was customary that girls were not allowed outside the house and gardens until after they were married, except on this one special day called Yuan Xiao Jie. During Yuan Xiao Jie, the girls would go through the beautification process and also make pretty lanterns. On each of the lanterns, the girls would write a riddle. All the boys would gather with the girls on this day and try to guess the riddle on the lanterns and probably some other stuff that was making their parents very nervous. They would also eat Tongyuan, a sweet rice dumpling, to celebrate being together.
[custom_headline type=”center” level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”true”]The Takeaway[/custom_headline]
Chinese New Year is all about family and is a very special time that has both old and new traditions entwined into one. Many generations of family will spend quality time together, reconnect and make each other feel special by serving all of their favorite holiday treats. One of the most requested Chinese New Year dishes in Hong Kong is Chinese Radish cake, also called Loh bak Goh, White carrot cake, Chinese turnip cake and 萝卜糕. I hope you enjoy my Chinese Vegan Radish Cake recipe.
Xin Nian Kuai le! 新年快乐! Kung Hei Fat Choy!
The Chinese Vegan Radish Cake, also known as turnip cake, loh bak go, white carrot cake and 萝卜糕), is a savory treat made with diakon radish, mushrooms, fresh herbs, spices and rice flour which is steamed, sliced and then gently pan-fried to perfection so it is crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.
- [b]Steamed Diakon:[/b]
- 12 dried mushrooms – soaked overnight and chopped finely (or you can chop up fresh mushrooms and just sauté with a little oil)
- 1 large radish – shredded
- 1/4 cup water – to cook down the diakon
- 1 tablespoon vegetable powder – gluten free
- 1 tablespoon sugar or sugar alternative
- white pepper – to taste
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- 5 cups rice flour
- 5 1/2 cups water – or as needed to create the consistency of soft cement
- 3 green onions – chopped (white and green sections)
- water for steaming – amount depends on steaming apparatus used[br]
- [b]Frying Chinese Vegan Radish Cake:[/b]
- 2 tablespoons oil
- slices of steamed radish cake
- spring onions- chopped to garnish[br]
- [b]Chinese Dipping Sauce:[/b]
- 4 tablespoons tamari (soy) sauce
- 2 teaspoons Chinese black rice dark vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Ginger – freshly grated
- In a large wok, place one teaspoon of oil and then add shredded diakon and cook until softened and about 1/4 cup water to finish the cooking process. (about 10 minutes)
- Season diakon with vegetable powder, sugar salt, white pepper and five-spiced powder. All the water should be evaporated.
- Slowly add the rice flour, a little at a time, to the daikon mixture, stirring continuously. Add a little water at time to help smooth the product up to six cups of water. (The consistency you are looking for is like a soft cement or bondo for a car or maybe stiff frosting in the can (don’t laugh). Don’t let the mixture burn so keep it moving until you reach the right consistency. Please note: I had a very large diakon and I live in a super humid climate and all of these factors play a part in determining how much water you will need to add to your mixture. You may need to add between 5 to 6 cups of water, maybe less or maybe more, to achieve the soft cement-like consistency. It is very important that you add just a little water at a time until you get to the consistency of soft cement. I needed to add 5 1/2 cups to achieve the consistency I was looking for.
- Turn the burner off. Add a little at a time the chopped mushrooms and spring onions to your diakon flour mixture. Season to taste.
- Scoop the batter into a 9-inch cake tin and level it and smooth out the batter. (If your steamer is small, divide diakon batter into 2 smaller pans)
- Do not worry if you do not have a”big fancy steamer”. You can use your wok and place 2 chopsticks at the bottom of your wok in an “x” formation, then place a small plate on top, carefully add water to the bottom of your wok about 2 inches or so on the bottom, then place your diakon cake dish on top of plate and then place a lid on top of your wok and steam.
- Alternatively if you do not have a wok, there is always plan B for steaming. I use my big soup pot that has a lid. It is very deep but not very wide so I have to split my diakon batter into 3 smaller, ovenproof round dishes. I place a very small oven proof round dish upside down on the bottom of my soup pot, then I place my small bowl or diakon batter on top of the upside bowl so the weight of it holds down the upside down bowl. Then I carefully pour my water inside my soup pot about 2 inches on the bottom without getting any on my diakon radish cake. I then place a lid on my soup pot to cover and steam the radish cake.
- Steam over high heat for approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour or until a chopstick comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool in the refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Make your dipping sauce. In a small bowl add Tamari (soy) sauce, black Chinese vinegar and freshly grated ginger, stir and set aside.
- Slice cake into slices.
- Put a little cooking oil in a frying pan and place the sliced diakon cake into the frying pan.
- Brown the diakon cake lightly on both sides until golden brown.
- Garnish with green onions and serve with dipping sauce. Serve and enjoy!
[/x_text][/x_column][/x_row][/x_section]
Bobbi, thank you once again for sharing a great story to enlighten us on how special Chinese New Year is. And, that recipe looks amazing! Even for us meat lovers — I see this lined up for an upcoming Meatless Monday 🙂
Dear Danny, thanks so much for your kind words and so glad you liked the story and recipe. Have a super week! We still need to sort the comment section as it appears as if others are still having issues performing this function. Take Care, BAM
It was great to learn more about Chinese New Year. Thanks.
Hello Joe, I am so glad you like the article. Have a super day! Bobbi
Love the article.
I can’t wait to try and cook the chinese vegan radish cake. It looks yummy!
Thank you Audrey! I hope you take a little detour into your local Asian market to purchase a diakon radish as you are going to really like this fun dim sum dish!
Thank you Kirin! I had so much fun writing this and interview people about their family traditions. Take Care, BAM
Bobbi these look so delicious! I can’t wait to make them.
Remarkable things here. I am very satisfied to peer
your post. Thank you so much and I’m looking ahead to touch you.
Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to
me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
I know that this post is a few years old, so I hope you’ll still see my comment. I’ve been looking for a recipe for these, as I used to get these at a Chinese restaurant that was near my home when I lived in NY. Yours appear to be like the ones I remember, and I look forward to trying my hand at them for Chinese New Year. I have one question: what is vegetable powder? Thanks!
Hi Debra. Vegetable powder is like vegetable bouillon in the States but in a powder form. You can also use a vegetable bouillon cube and just crush and add to the recipe. If you’re not vegan, feel free to use chicken powder or crush a chicken bouillon. Hope this helps and let us know how you like the recipe. Thank you!